


We Will Rise

by Ankhtemis



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-15 08:00:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 15,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28935183
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ankhtemis/pseuds/Ankhtemis
Summary: Canon divergence from Season 5.What if Abby had been the one to take the Nightblood serum instead of Clarke? What if she had been left outside of the bunker?
Relationships: Abby Griffin/Marcus Kane
Comments: 36
Kudos: 58





	1. Kliron Sintaim

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [In the Silence](https://archiveofourown.org/works/19972573) by [itzbianqueen](https://archiveofourown.org/users/itzbianqueen/pseuds/itzbianqueen). 



> Many thanks to my Beta Storms And Stars!
> 
> All the characters will somehow make an appearance at some point, but the story will be focused on Kabby. Additional tags will be addded as the story pogresses.

Abby sat in the trunk of the Rover, contemplating on her life so far while taking a sip of the tea she had made this morning.

It had been a little over five years since Praimfaya. Five long years without her beloved daughter, without Marcus, without Jackson and the kids, and all her other friends. She missed them all terribly, but she could in all honesty say that she was happy. Those five years hadn't been easy, but she had been more than lucky. After managing to help the kids launch their rocket in space, her survival instinct had kicked in and she had made it, barely, back to Becca's lab. She owed it to Marcus and to Clarke to try her best to survive. They both thought she was dead, and it broke her heart just to think about it. She had stayed there for two months alone, surviving on MRE rations, before going out for the first time. The sight that greeted her almost broke her – burnt nothingness for as far as her eyes could see. How was she going to survive for five years like this?

She had taken the Rover, first to Arkadia. The desolate, smoking remains of what used to be their home for their first months on Earth brought her to her knees, weeping for what seemed to be a while before she managed to compose herself to tour the place. She took a few things that she thought would be useful: some medicine that had been left behind in the haste of evacuation, blankets, torches, a knife that Marcus had left behind and a radio. She had tried the radio right away, not even knowing if it was working or if it was on the right canal, to try and hear her daughter or Marcus' voice, but it had remained silent. It had never answered back. She still talked to it everyday, in the hopes that someone could hear her. Even if they couldn't answer back, it was therapeutic.

She had stayed in Arkadia for a night, then made her way to Polis. The city laid in ruins before her, totally empty. She had made her way toward the bunker and had knocked on the door. But either they didn't hear her, or they chose not to answer. They were at full capacity after all.

She was reminiscing on those first days alone outside, so deep in her thoughts that she jumped when an arm suddenly appeared on her shoulders. A second form snuggled on her knees, still half asleep. Abby smiled warmly at the two, and hugged them.

Zora had been fifteen when the death wave hit. She and others had found shelter during the fire storm that erased all life from the surface of the earth, and survived, only for the others to succumb to the radiation. But Zora was a Nightblood, and while she had been horribly sick in the first days, surrounded by her dying family, she had survived. She and Abby had met by chance in the first year. Their relationship hadn't been easy, but they made it work and were close now. Zora even considered Eden her legitimate sister. Eden was Abby's daughter. She had never considered she might get pregnant again, and here she was, with a four and a half year old little girl. The shock of understanding she was pregnant again, and with Marcus' child, had been enough to make her pass out at the time.

They were the reason for her happiness, her salvation, in the uncertainty of the survival of the man she loved in the bunker, or her daughter in space. They stayed like that for a few more minutes, before getting ready for their day. They would go back to Polis, like they did everyday for the past week. The people in the bunker would get out any day now, and Abby did not want to miss it.

* * *

Abby approached the bunker in Polis alone, and could immediately hear voices. They were finally out! She unconsciously walked a little faster, she couldn’t wait to see them all again. She couldn’t wait to see _him_ again. She made her way toward the voices, quickening her pace, and her breath caught in her throat. He was there! Eyes closed, face upturned toward the sun taking deep breaths. His hair was longer and had a little more white in it than she remembered, and his skin was paler, but apart from that, he looked almost the same. She opened her mouth to call him, ready to give him the shock of his life when suddenly, two arms wrapped around his midsection. The arms belonged to a pretty blond grounder woman who leaned toward Marcus to kiss him. Abby felt like her heart was breaking in a million pieces, mind almost going numb from shock. How could have she been so stupid? He thought she was dead, of course he would move on! She stood there, feeling like the ground was crumbling under her feet when a voice saved her from collapsing.

“ _Abby?!_ ” it said unbelievingly.

“Jackson!” exclaimed Abby, turning around with a bright teary smile.

“Is it really you? How?”

He ran to her and scooped her in a crushing hug. She was hugging him back just as hard, crying in happiness in seeing the man she loved like her own son. His smile was as warm as it ever was, he was still the tall, lean young man she knew, but he had matured, and there were lines on his forehead, a sign that he had worried a lot in those five years. He pulled back, holding her face in his hands, looking at her still not believing she was really there.

“I can’t believe it’s you. How is that possible? We thought you were dead!” cried Jackson, before crushing her in his arms again.

“Abby?” asked a new, broken voice.

“Marcus.” Abby could not help another wave of tears at seeing the man she still loved with all her heart.

She didn’t know if it would be okay to hug him, but he took the initiative and enveloped her in his arms, sobbing. He held her a long time as if to reassure himself she was indeed here, before pulling back and holding her face like Jackson did earlier. He just looked at her as she smiled a teary smile at him, not saying anything, just revelling in each other's presence. He let her go slowly, staring at her as if she would suddenly disappear if he went too fast. A few other people came to greet her, Nathan Miller, who she was happy to note was now with Jackson. She squeezed his hand in appreciation and he squeezed back, happy to have the approval of the woman he considered like his adoptive mother. Octavia ran to her yelling her name at the top of her lungs and hugged her hard, prompting another wave of happy tears from the older woman who hadn't been expecting such an expressive response from the young woman. Sinclair came too, and even Indra gave her a short – but firm – hug! Abby was feeling a bit overwhelmed at the affection all these people, _her_ people were showing her and could not stop smiling and crying at the same time.

“Hello,” said another voice, curiously.

“Hi,” said Abby, whipping her tears with her sleeve, eyeing her a bit uncertainly, not knowing how to act around the woman who kissed Marcus earlier.

“Er, Kyra meet Abby, we were, er, friends on the Ark. Abby, meet Kyra, my,” he paused “girlfriend.” said Marcus, a bit awkwardly.

Friends on the Ark, what the hell? Abby threw a wounded look at Marcus, before choosing to play nice to Kyra, who she decided hadn’t done anything wrong to her.

“Nice to meet you,” said Abby with a small, albeit a bit insincere, smile, extending her hand, which Kyra shook.

The situation was quickly becoming awkward, but thankfully, rescue came in an unexpected way, which is to say, a small missile launched from nowhere and attached itself to Abby’s legs, almost knocking her on the ground in the process, surprising them all so much that Indra and Octavia drew their swords. A voice raised from further away:

“What the hell Squirt! I thought I said not to move? Sorry Abby, I have no idea how she escaped.”

Everyone watched as a young woman, around Octavia’s age jogged toward them, rolling her eyes at Abby. She was small, barely taller than Abby but very muscular, she had long, black braided her, and blue eyes. She had the typical grounder tattoos on her arms, and a small adorning piece on her forehead. A sword was on her back, and a small knife on her hip, but she made no movement to get them, and kept her posture relaxed, which helped Indra and Octavia relax as well, even though they didn’t put their weapons away quite yet. She was heading toward Abby and “Squirt” who was none other than a small child whom Abby was painstakingly peeling from her legs to take in her arms. Abby hugged the child to her, and whispered something in her ear which made her squeal in delight and give a sloppy kiss on Abby's cheek.

“Be nice to your sister Eden!” said Abby, putting the child back on the ground.

“Ai na nomi ( _I will mommy_ )!” promised the child, prompting a wave of startled gasps in the group.

“Everyone, this is Zora,” said Abby pointing to the older girl, “and the little missile here is Eden”, she said pointing to the little one, who was now hiding behind Zora's legs, pretending not to see the question in their eyes. “Girls, these are Jackson, Nathan, Sinclair, Octavia, Indra, Marcus and, ah, Kyra”. They each gave a small nod in acknowledgement to the girls as Abby introduced them.

“I've heard so much about you, it's nice to finally put a face on the name!” said Zora with enthusiasm. She had a shy but warm smile on her lips. Her English was excellent, but there were traces of an accent that told the others it wasn't her native language.

“All good things I hope?” said Jackson jokingly.

Zora's only answer was a teasing smile and a raise of her eyebrow, like she knew something the others didn't, prompting Jackson to fidget under her playful stare, wondering exactly _what_ sort of embarrassing story Abby could have shared with the young girl. Abby rolled her eyes, huffed and gave a light head-slap at Zora, telling her to “stop it!”, while laughing at the same time. This prompted a round of laughter in the group, the playful relationship the two women seemed to share diffusing the small tension.

Marcus could not stop starring at Abby, still not believing his eyes weren't playing a cruel trick on him, his thoughts all over the place. When he had heard Jackson calling her name earlier, he had felt a wave of incredible sadness and guilt at the thought of the woman he had loved all his life. But then when she had called Jackson's name _back_ , he swore his heart actually stopped in his chest for a few seconds before making its way in his mouth. He couldn't help himself and took her in his arms for a long time, for the first time in five long years of thinking her dead. The emotion bottled up in him for those years had started to surface when he smelled her, until he became a sobbing mess. She had held him back, crying as well. She looked almost the same, her hair, styled in small grounder braids, had more white in it, and some wrinkles had appeared around her eyes, but she was still strikingly beautiful. He'd had to regretfully let her go to let others greet her, and had almost guiltily jumped when Kyra wound her arm around him to be introduced. He had almost forgotten her for a moment, and did not know how to introduce the two women to each other. Abby and him _were_ together when he went in the bunker, leaving her to die outside. And he had never really talked about her with anyone since. He just couldn't, the pain had been – and if he was honest with himself still was – too raw. So he clumsily introduced her as a friend, but the hurt look she sent him cut deeply, and he felt ashamed of himself. And then the little girl, Eden, appeared and called her “nomi”, _mommy,_ in Trigedasleng, sending his thoughts in a frenzy. But Abby had told her to play nice to her _sister_ , who obviously was not Abby's daughter, and he didn't know what to think. Could it be possible that Abby was pregnant when he let her outside the bunker? She wasn't old, but she certainly wasn't young either, and every woman on the Ark got a contraceptive implant before puberty even hit. Every couple wanting a child had to petition to get the implant removed. It would be put back as soon as the child was born. Of course it could malfunction, Aurora Blake had been a prime example of that. Marcus didn't think he could handle it if he learnt that he had left her as well as their unborn child to die back then. Eden looked to be about the right age, but she had acted shy and had kept her face hidden the whole time so he had not been able to get a good look at her, except for the mop on black hair on her head. His mind was a jumble of feelings and thoughts right now.

Abby had asked right away if they had had any contact or any news of the kids in space, but as she expected, apart from the conversation Octavia had had with Bellamy before the rocket launch, they regretfully hadn't heard anything since. She still had hope, those kids were damn resourceful, but she couldn't help worry that she would never see Clarke again, hold her in her arms and tell her how much she loved her.

She was explaining to them how she had survived the radiation thanks to the Nightblood treatment, and how she had in turn used it to save the two girls, when Zora seemed to suddenly freeze and focus on something in the distance.

“Is that Athos?” she asked.

“What would he be doing here?” asked Abby turning to look as well, with barely hidden contempt, causing the others to be wary of the men they could see approaching in the distance. It was rare for Abby to speak like that. “He's not alone.”

“He better have a damn good reason to be here, or I'll end him myself!” growled Zora before marching toward the man at an angry pace, taking her sword from her back with a swift move.

Abby picked Eden from the ground an watched the exchange from afar. She knew Athos wouldn't try anything while being surrounded by so many Skaikru, and Zora was more than skilled enough to handle him if needed, but for him to come here at all, something must be really wrong. He raised his hands in peace while Zora approached and invaded his personal space to talk to him right in his face. The sight was almost comical, for Athos had more in common with an ox than a man, and towered more than a foot over her. Zora looked like a fly on his jacket next to him. They exchanged a few words, and Athos turned around, letting them see a man that looked severely injured being held up by the others. The girl immediately dropped to her knees to examine him, in a fashion so reminiscent of Abby that Marcus wondered for a second if she wasn't the one who had come the meet the man.

“Can you hold her for me? I need to see what happened.” asked Abby to Marcus.

“Sure!” agreed Marcus without thinking. He soon found himself with his arms full a squirmy little girl, and held her close to him.

“Thank you!” said Abby grateful, ”I'd rather avoid her seeing the mess. Stay with Marcus, okay honey?” she added for the child, caressing her hair and kissing her face, before jogging toward the group of visitors, Jackson in her footsteps. Marcus hugged the girl to him and anxiously watched Abby go to the group of burly men. That's when he noticed for the first time, and with no small amount of surprise, the sword hanging from Abby's back. He wondered if she even knew how to use it, but the fact that she had it at all somehow helped calm his nerves.

Athos nodded to Abby in recognition, and made to stop Jackson from approaching, but Abby put a calming hand on his forearm, telling him something, and he nodded again before moving to the left to let them work. Abby took one glance at the injuries and shared a startled look with Zora. Jackson, catching the look said:

“You've seen these kinds of injuries before.”

“We have. But _how_? There haven't been any sightings in months now, everyone agreed to say that we had finally got the last one!” said Zora in a low, tense voice. “Chit dom kom au ( _what happened_ )?” she asked Athos.

He answered in Trig, which Jackson still didn't speak very well, but he got the gist of it. Delta, the mangled man, was on a scouting mission with his team. He came back, alone, three days late, his injuries so bad that they had no choice but take him to Polis knowing that the bunker would be open any day now and hoping that Abby would show up and save him. They didn't know what happened to the other members of Delta's team, or what caused this much damage.

“Ba, gada bilaik yu get klin ( _but it looks like you know_ )” he said to them.

“Hef-leda choj opa ( _man-flesh eaters_ )” answered Abby nodding in a resigned tone, working on a huge gash on the man's side. Her declaration prompted a confused look from Jackson who didn't understand what she had said, and a burst of shocked whispers in the group.

“Nou na kom au ( _not possible_ )!” exclaimed one of the men, “yu tromp raun ( _you lie_ )!”

“Chomouda ( _why_ )?” said Abby, before saying something else Jackson could not quite grasp. They were still working quickly on Delta to try and save him.

“Em pleni ( _enough_ )!” said Athos to the angry guy who had opened his mouth again to retort, “kom nau nou ste taim ( _now is not the time_ ). Yu na fis em op ( _can you heal him_ )?” he asked them.

“Osir na ste trana ( _we will try_ ),” said Abby.

Jackson took a few seconds to ponder how much better Abby's Trig was before focusing his whole energy into healing the poor man in front of him. It took a while, but between the three of them, they managed to stabilize him enough to take a small break before moving him.

Abby left Zora with Athos so she could explain what was happening to him, while she checked on Marcus and Eden. It made her nervous to leave the two together, she feared Marcus would guess Eden was his before she had the time to tell him. She will tell him, but she'd rather do it in private. She looked up with a smile, Eden was playing with Octavia, using the small wooden sword Zora had made her while Marcus was plopped on the ground, cheering them on, Kyra at his side. Indra, who had been joined by her daughter, Gaia, was watching them, a small smile on her lips. Abby was a little nervous at seeing Gaia watch her daughter. She was after all the Flame Keeper, and Eden was born a Nightblood, even if her mother was an “artificial” one.

Octavia mock-fell on the ground after she let Eden hit her in the leg, making exaggerated noises of distress to the little girl's glee.

“I see someone's having fun!” said Abby approaching the group.

“Nomi ( _mommy_ )! Cheered Eden, “I won four times already!”

“That's great Honibi ( _honey_ )! But I think you should kiss Octavia better, she looks quite put out.” said Abby to her daughter, who promptly turned back to give Octavia a big wet kiss on the cheek. Even Indra could not repress a smile at the child's cuteness.

“How's the guy?” asked Marcus.

“Alive, and stable for now, but he is not out of the woods yet. He'll need more intensive care. Jackson's looking into transferring him into the bunker's infirmary.”

“You seemed to know them, who are they?” asked Indra.

Abby explained to them that she, Zora and Eden weren't the only survivors of Praimfaya. They had met Athos and his group into their third year after the death wave. Their relationship was tense at best, they barely tolerated each other but since they seemed to be the only survivors at the time, they had not seen the use of killing each other off, figuring there was enough room for them all. They knew of another small group of people up north, where Azgeda used to be, and suspected another one west of Polis in the former Ouskejon Kru (Blue Cliff) territory. Abby didn't know how they had survived the radiation, but she had her suspicions, and she'd rather not think about it. Thankfully, no one thought to ask.

“That guy's wounds looked nasty even from here, what happened to him? Was he attacked by another group of survivors?” asked Octavia.

Abby let out a sigh, and shook her head in the negative. That was another question she'd rather not answer right now. She had thought this nightmare was over, but it seemed now they had been wrong. And she needed to tell them everything in case they encountered the things. Jackson was coming back from the bunker followed by Nathan, signalling to her that he was ready to move Delta.

“I need to help Jackson move Delta to the infirmary. I'll explain everything to you, can you find a place where we won't be interrupted? I guess all the clans will need to hear it.”

“Tell Jackson to bring you to the Council room when you're finished, we'll wait for you there with Eden” said Marcus, now looking worried. It was not in Abby's habits to evade a question like that, so whatever it was that had maimed this guy must be bad. He wasn't sure he wanted to know. She put a hand on his forearm and gave him a thankful smile for keeping Eden for her.

After making sure Delta was settled in the infirmary, she and Jackson left for the Council room with Athos. His people stayed with Delta, who was under Niylah's care, with strict orders to fetch them if his condition seemed to change. There were two guards posted at the door.

* * *

Well, thought grimly Marcus, trouble did seem to follow them everywhere. Athos had explained to them what it was that attacked his men, being the unfortunate one with the most experience with the beasts. And if Abby hadn't been there to corroborate the tale, he probably wouldn't have believed it. From the look of the others, many seemed to share his sentiment. Fortunately, most of the clan representatives present knew Abby from before Praimfaya and grudgingly respected her and seemed to trust her opinion on the matter.

To be fair, the story came right from a nightmare. Man-eating beasts, that moved faster than a galloping horse at full speed, with claws the side of his forearm, and teeth as long as his hand? No way. And yet, Abby's haunted look and pale face as she nodded along Athos' tale told him that she had seen them with her own eyes. A chill went down Marcus' spine at the realization. How close had she got to being eaten by those beasts herself?

“They sound very hard to kill,” said Indra, always calm and practical, “any weaknesses we can exploit?”

Abby nodded, “they have a terrible sense of smell and can't see very well unless you move. Actually if you see one, the best way to survive if to stay as still as possible, breathing calmly,” she paused and made a noncommittal movement of her head in agreement at Miller's unbelieving snort, “they have okay hearing, on par with ours I'd say, and are extremely sensitive to ground vibration. As soon as you move, you're dead. But they are not agile at all, if there's something in their way, they'll be slowed down. Which is why so far they've only attacked in places with flat ground. If you can climb somewhere relatively high, you should be good. Their skin isn't thick, and they don't have any exoskeleton so if you're fast enough, an arrow or a sword through the head is all it takes.”

“If you're fast enough,” repeated Octavia, to which Abby, Zora and Athos nodded grimly, clearly picturing in their heads people who had _not_ been fast enough.

“It's not easy, but it is possible to kill them,” said Zora, “actually up until today, we were sure we had gotten the last one a few months ago, but it would seem we were wrong.”

“They have never been anywhere near Polis,” said Abby, “but you should still inform everyone, just in case.”

* * *

Abby was back in the infirmary, checking on Delta's wound with Jackson and Zora was watching Eden in a corner while the others informed the bunker's population of the new threat. It would not go down well. They never seemed to catch a break, it seemed that a good news could never go without a bad one.

The people would use the bunker's dormitory at night for the time being, until they had reconstructed enough to move permanently back to the surface. They would try to reconstruct Polis first, while Skaikru would do their best to make Arkadia livable again. Abby had given them the places that had escaped the fires of Praimfaya, so a few krus that used to have territories there would probably move back at some point. The main priority right now was food. Abby and Zora had shown a good place to start growing things not far from the city, and a big team was already starting on it. The infirmary would stay in the bunker for the time being.

Delta would recover, but he will live with a bad limp and his face will be badly scarred for the rest of his life. Jackson was looking back and forth between Abby and the two girls in the corner while tending to him, a question burning the tip of his tongue.

“Spit it out Jackson, I promise I won't hit you too hard,” teased Abby not raising her eyes.

Jackson gave a small laugh, and took the plunge, “it's just that... Earlier Eden called you _nomi_ , that means mommy right?” at Abby's nod he went on, “then... how? Don't get me wrong, I am happy that you found a family during these times, and I know you said you saved the girls by donating your bone marrow, and you called Zora Eden's sister, but,” he rambled, “but –“ his voice dropped to a whisper, “is Eden really yours?” He looked torn, as if he didn't know whether to be happy for her, or sad that she possibly had to go through a pregnancy alone.

Abby sighed, and opened her mouth to answer. She would not lie to Jackson, whom she considered a son. But as she was about to answer, they were interrupted by Sinclair, coming in holding a bloody hand. She smiled apologetically to Jackson, putting a soothing hand on his forearm, and rolled her eyes at Sinclair. Some things decidedly never changed. The engineering teams had always been regular visitors of Medbay in the Ark, they somehow hurt themselves almost as often as did the mechanics. Sinclair just needed a couple stitches, and Abby actually had Zora do the diagnosis and treatment under her guidance, so she could train on a real patient for once.

“It is too late to go back home now, we should find a place to stay,” said Zora to Abby once she was finished bandaging Sinclair's wound.

“Don't you usually stay in Polis?” asked Jackson, curious.

“No, we live a couple hour drive away, in a forest east from here. We'll need to go back tomorrow, to check that everything is fine, it's been a few days.”

“Mind if I join you? With Nathan? I'd love to see it!” said Jackson.

In the end it was agreed they would leave the next day after helping out people settle a bit. To Abby's joy, Marcus joined the party, but that unfortunately also meant that Kyra would be there. Hopefully she would be able to get him alone to thank him for respecting her wish of not staying in the bunker five years ago, and more importantly to tell him about Eden. She couldn't help but fear a little what his reaction will be now he is with someone else.


	2. Plankadia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The people who stayed in the bunker discover the place where Abby and her girls lived for the past five years and get ready to go to Arkadia.

The seven of them left Polis in the Rover, and made it home by the end of the afternoon. Zora quickly checked that everything was alright upon arriving. As they neared the entrance of the camp, Zora asked Abby if she wanted to go to the river to get fish for dinner or if she'd rather stay and help their friends get settled.

“I'll stay here if you don't mind going?”

“Sure,” answered Zora, “I'll take Eden with me, we'll see if we can get some berries and nuts as well.”

“Thanks honey,” said Abby, pressing a grateful hand on Zora's arm, looking at her with a warm gaze.

While they were talking, the others were silently advancing, taking in their surroundings with awe. They got out of the Rover, slowly turning around. The camp was composed of a cave, which by the look of things was exposed South, meaning it got plenty of natural light and warmth during the day. There were notches carved on the wall to attach torches at night for light, and a fire pit in the middle. On the right side of the cave stood a tall, sturdy tree. Up in its branches sat a small tree house, which had a solar panel on the roof that Abby had scavenged from Arkadia. A bag was hanging in the air from a rope, high enough that you couldn't get it from the ground even if you jumped, and low enough that you couldn't get it from the branches. Marcus figured that it was used to keep food safe from predators. A small hut used to smoke food was at the foot of the tree. A big tent made of leather and furs was connected on the left side of the cave, in front of which was a well used table. They could hear the trickle of a river nearby, the buzz of small insects, and various birds tweeting. The place, while simple, had a homey feel to it that made it look like a little slice of heaven.

“We'll be back soon!” Zora was saying, bringing them back to the present.

She had her sword against her back, and was holding a spear in one hand, Eden's hand in the other. Eden had a smaller spear herself, and was talking animatedly to the older girl.

“Ai hod yu in nomi ( _I love you mom_ )!” Shouted Eden over her shoulder.

“Seintaim ai hod yu in honibi ( _I love you too honey_ )!” Answered Abby. “Ste kefa ( _be careful_ )!”

Marcus looked at her, surprised. He had noticed that Abby understood Trig perfectly now, but he hadn't heard her speak it yet, except for a few words here and there. While it had not been perfect back then, Abby's Trig had gotten better by the time they had had to lock themselves in the bunker. It sounded almost native when she spoke it now. He figured that she used it a lot more nowadays.

“Where are they going?” asked Marcus curiously.

“Down to the river to get food for tonight,” Abby smiled, while taking a bag from the trunk of the car. “Let's get you all settled! I'm afraid we don't have too much space, you'll have to share our tent.”

“Wait, where will you guys stay?” asked Jackson, taking another bag.

“We'll take the cave,” answered Abby easily. “Don't worry,” she added holding a hand when a frowning Nathan opened his mouth in protest, “we're used to it!”

In the hour that followed, everyone settled in the tent. Although it was small, it was divided into two sections, one which usually housed Abby and Eden, and the other for Zora, offering a small amount of intimacy for each. There already were two small beds that were just big enough to fit two people, which Jackson and Nathan, and Marcus and Kyra shared. It was a bit of a tight squeeze, but it would work. Abby fetched more furs for cover in the tree house. The temperature may be warm during the day, but they could get really cold at night. The people who had stayed in the temperature regulated bunker would not be used to the chill of the wind anymore. She prepared the heaters for the night, which Zora called _mwan_ 1. It was a simple, ingenuous system that Trishana Kru used to warm their beds: they carved out a rock in which they would put the hot coals from the fire, and the rock would go in the bed for a few minutes before going to sleep. It would make sure the bed was warm and dry. The rock can then stay in the room after being removed to be doubled as a coal stove for additional heat. They also had some hot water bags, made from the stomach of the bigger animals they hunted, which they used on their feet for the really cold nights. Abby figured she could get those down as well just in case.

She had been surprised to see animals bigger than birds. They had started coming back around the third year after Praimfaya. Abby had no explanation, except for the fact that the animals that had survived the missiles the first time around must have developed a genetic resistance to the radiation (not unlike the people on the Ark, but on a much higher level). She used the equipment in Becca's lab to test this theory, hoping at the same time to find something to help the people stuck in the bunker get out faster. Unfortunately, genetic science had not been something she had studied on the Ark, and she had been unable to find anything. The guilt at not being able to help had almost eaten her alive then. 

While the others were settling and resting, Abby busied herself taking everything they would need to prepare the food. Cooking had become a relaxing activity to her. She had never had the time to do it before. It was heart warming to cook for people other than herself and the two girls, and she couldn't get the smile off of her face. Just as Jackson and Marcus were coming out from the tent, to ask her if she needed help, Zora and Eden were getting back from the river with seven fishes in hand, one for each person, as well as a few plants.

“Nomi! Nomi! Chek au ( _look_ )!” Said Eden excitedly with a toothy grin, “I caught it all by myself!” She was holding out a fish, proudly showing it to her mother.

“That you did, squirt! Why don't you show mommy what else we found while ai wada klin disha omon _(I clean these_ )?” Said Zora, taking the fish from her and handing the bag to the little girl.

“Well done _Honibi_ ,” said Abby to the proud girl. “Shoun ai of ( _show me_ ) what else you got!”

Marcus and Jackson were amused to see how the three perfectly mixed English and Trig in every sentence when they talked to each other. Eden took the bag to her mother. On the way to the river they had looted a fair amount of plants, that could be used for healing as well as add to their meal tonight, and she was showing them off one by one. Marcus and Jackson looked on bemusedly as Eden gave the name of each plant she was taking from the bag.

“Abby? I'm going back, we need more leaves for the fish!” Said Zora while putting the fishes in a bucket of water so it wouldn't smell.

“Oh no, stay with Eden, I'll go, I need to harvest some Arnica, we're almost out. Hani ( _how many_ ) do we need?” Answered Abby.

“Jos tu _(just two_ )! Mochof ( _thank you_ )!”

Abby stood and retrieved a bow and a few arrows under the boys' surprised eyes. _Since when does she know how to use that?_ They wondered.

“I won't be long!” Said Abby. She turned to Eden, “ _Honibi_? Can you please sort these out for me?”

“Sha ( _yes_ )!” Said Eden.

“Mochof!” She kissed the little girl's head before going.

It wasn't long until she returned with two big leaves of _something_ that she handed to Zora. In the mean time, Eden had enlisted Jackson's help in sorting out the plants between those that would be used for dinner, and those that were to be used for healing. Marcus was valiantly trying to tame a dead fish into submission under Zora's guidance, a thing easier said than done. Zora was laughing at him, as she had already done three, and he was still on his first one. Abby, amused, threw him an indulgent smile as he started swearing at the thing. Eden and Jackson were just about done sorting everything and Abby knew the excitable girl would get bored if she didn't give her something to do right away.

“Odon ( _finished_ )!” Declared Eden.

“Kei Honibi, mochof ( _very well honey, thank you_ )! Can you show Jackson how to make arnica ointment?” The process was simple enough that the four year old knew how to do it without Abby's guidance.

“Sha _(yes_ )! Kom op raun ai Zackson ( _Come with me Zackson_ )!”

The authoritative tone, and the way she couldn't pronounce Jackson's name properly, were just too cute not to laugh. The little girl proceeded to do just as her mother had asked, explaining everything every step of the way, under her watchful eye. Marcus had all but abandoned his fight with the fish, eyeing it as if it had personally insulted him. Abby started helping with the fish, being careful not to waste anything. What they couldn't eat, they would use to make fish soup tomorrow. Eden enlisted a now task-less Marcus to help start a fire, explaining she needed to boil water to sterilize the jar they would use for the ointment. Marcus looked bewildered at being commanded by the small girl, and by the fact that a four-year old even knew the word “sterilize”. Nathan and Kyra came a little while later, just as Abby and Zora were finishing preparing their fish foil.

“And what do you heal with it?” Jackson was asking.

“It is used to heal contusions,” answered Eden without batting an eyelash at the long word, “you know what it means?”

“Jeez, _I_ have know idea what it is, how do _you_ know it?” Asked a baffled Nathan to the child, from under the flap of the tent.

“A contusion is a bad bruise. Mommy don tich ai op ( _taught me_ )!”

_“Figures_ ,” said Nathan under the laughs of the others.

Marcus couldn't help but look at Abby with admiration. He had thought her dead all this time, but she had survived, and he couldn't be more thankful for that fact. It didn't ease the guilt that kept eating at his heart for leaving her out there for a certain death, even though it was per her wish, but he felt better knowing that not only she had made it, but she had had a good life. She and Zora were close like mother and daughter, and she had raised Eden to be a wonderful, happy, and extremely smart child. The child was really sweet, and had even managed to wrap the ever stoic Indra around her little finger. A small part of him regarded Eden with regret, as something that could have been if Abby and him had not been separated. But life hadn't wanted it this way, and now it was too late.

Kyra, watching Marcus, definitely didn't see their reunion with a good eye. While Abby had been welcoming to her, she felt a bit left out, as everyone was overjoyed at seeing the woman again after thinking she was dead. She did not understand what the big deal was about her. Not that she had anything personally against her, she obviously was smart, loyal, kind – and a remarkable person. But she wasn't stupid nor blind. While Marcus had introduced Abby as “a friend from the Ark”, he had held her way longer than the others when he saw her, and she saw the longing looks Abby sent Marcus when he wasn't looking. Even though he had never said anything about it, there was a story there, she would have to be careful and remind everyone here who Marcus belonged to now. It had taken her too long to get were she was now. With that in mind, she slid her arms around Marcus' midsection, making sure Abby was watching. Marcus looked down at her, surprised before smiling and kissing her lightly on the lips.

Abby couldn't hide a flash of pain from her eyes as she averted her gaze from the couple, and Jackson sadly watched her from the side, thinking life hadn't been fair to his friend. He had seen Abby and Marcus' relationship with a dubious eye in the beginning, but after seeing how happy Marcus made Abby, and how much they loved each other, he had rooted for these two. Zora was giving the couple an evil eye, cutting her fish with more force than necessary, not fooled for one second on the reason Kyra was acting like this. She knew how much Abby loved Marcus, and it pained her to see the woman who had been like a mother to her this sad, when it should have been the contrary. In her opinion, Marcus was a fool to stay with a woman like Kyra, when he could have Abby.

Thankfully, the food was about to be ready to cook and they all migrated around the fire. It didn't take long to be ready, and Abby used the excuse of helping Eden eat to not look at anyone, and especially not at Kyra and Marcus who where in front of her. Kyra was practically glued to the man, who didn't seem to mind the attention.

Even without having spent the past five years in a bunker, the food was delicious. The girls had outdone themselves for their guests. Zora and Eden had found some wild onions and carrots to add to the meal, as well as some dandelions. The conversation was kept light, they shared a lot of stories, from the Ark, from the ground, and from after Praimfaya while enjoying the warmth of the fire. They were all laughing from Jackson's story of his first patient ever in Med Station in the Ark. It all started innocently enough.

“Do you remember my first day in Medbay, Abby?” Asked Jackson.

“Yeah...?” Asked dubiously Abby, not seeing why he was asking this question. Then it all came back to her. “Oh, _oh_! Oh my God yes!” Her smile was uncontrollable, and she was already starting to laugh.

“So it was my first day, _ever_ ,” explained Jackson for the others. “I was out of my mind with anxiety so I arrived in Med bay two hours early to make sure I wasn't late,” he said, rolling his eyes.

\- _Flashback -_

_Jackson was bursting with excitement for his first day as an apprentice. It was the first real path to achieve what he had aimed for since his mother's passing when he was a child. And what's more, he would be learning from Dr. Griffin, the absolute best in her field in the Ark! She was working under Dr. Murphy for the moment but was rumoured to be the next Head of Medical when Murphy retired, bypassing Dr. Stevens who had been there for longer than she had been. He was so excited he was almost two hours early. And to be fair he was also stressed out of his mind as well. What if he messed up?_

_He shook his head to rid himself of this thought, and entered the place that would hopefully become his second home for the rest of his life._

_Doctor Murphy was already there, tending to a patient. He observed curiously from afar, politely letting her finish before announcing himself._

_He had finished completing some necessary paperwork, and they had had his first patient! Some huge blond guy, apparently an engineer had badly injured himself in Mecha Station. They had to sedate him to set a bone in his arms, and he needed stitches. He was currently recovering in bed three, and Jackson had misjudged the amount of anaesthetic needed, so he should be asleep for a couple more hours._

_“Please grab me some more bandages when you're finished cleaning these, while I check on Mrs Sanders in bed five. You'll find them in the cupboard behind you,” said Dr. Murphy pointing to the door._

_Jackson acquiesced, carefully finishing cleaning and sterilizing the equipment before putting it away in its correct place. His first day wasn't so bad for the moment, Dr. Griffin should be there in about twenty minutes, and he had already done his first stitches! He happily went to the cupboard to get bandages, softly humming a song to himself with a smile._

_The song got strangled in his throat when he opened the door, and a surprised woman's cry came from inside the cupboard. A couple was inside, heavily making out, clothes discarded everywhere._

_Jackson slammed the door closed, backing away as fast as he could, his face reddening, while stammering words of apology. Not seeing doctor Griffin behind him, he crashed into her, somehow falling over her in trying to turn around, catch her and apologize at the same time. They found themselves on the floor in a very compromising situation when the patient from earlier in bed three decided to wake up and hollered, “what the hell are you doing to my wife?”_

\- _End flashback -_

Abby was crying from laughter, remembering the scene, and especially Jackson's face at the time, when he realized that in the span of ten seconds, he had just walked in on an illicit couple having an affair, crashed his boss on the ground, with her husband waking up right next to them thinking he was assaulting her.

“Stop laughing! It was mortifying,” said Jackson, “but I guess I made one hell of a first impression!” he added, laughing.

“I actually can't believe you're still alive,” said Marcus with a bit of awe, “I remember Jake threatening a guy from Farm Station because he had been staring at Abby for too long. I never knew what he told him exactly, but the guy turned white as a sheet, and I saw him change direction more than once when he was about to pass Jake in a corridor.”

“I think the only reason he's alive is because Jake was still too drugged up at the time to move on his own, he crashed on the ground and promptly fainted, attracting the attention of the whole station in the process,” said Abby still laughing, “we had one hell of a time getting him back up in the bed.” It was good to be able to remember these moments with fondness rather than pain.

As they were finished eating, Abby was showing Marcus and Nathan how to use their _mwan_ to have a warm bed without burning themselves. Both couples were really thankful for the additional heat, the temperature having dramatically dropped in the last hours. Kyra was helping Jackson clean everything while Zora was putting a sleepy Eden to bed. Everyone was fairly tired after this day, and quickly went to sleep.

Marcus, however tired he felt, couldn't sleep yet. His mind was preoccupied with Abby, which made him feel guilty toward Kyra. He loved her dearly, but seeing Abby after all this time had stirred something deep within him that he thought had died with her and would never feel again. Abby had been the love of his life, for a long time, long before they went down on the ground. Her character, her strength had blown him away then. He had never done anything about it in the Ark, first because she was married, and then because she hated him for the part he had taken in floating Jake and imprisoning her daughter, and they couldn't be in the same room without arguing. They had started getting closer and closer when they came on the ground, when he started changing. When _she_ unknowingly started changing _him_. She had somehow forgiven him his sins and all the pain he had caused her, a fact that to this day still baffled and humbled him. He had felt undeserving of her love. They became a couple, and he couldn't have been happier. That day when she had kissed him on the cheek calling it _hope_ had sparkled something in him he had never dared let himself feel before. But then the news of Praimfaya arrived, and Abby had to do horrible things to help the human race survive, things for which she could not forgive herself, which led her to ask Marcus to let her place in the bunker go to someone else. It had almost killed him to do so, and he would probably never forgive himself for doing that, even if she was still alive, and _happy_ now. He had stayed in the bunker and survived for her. He would not dishonour her memory by letting himself die in there. He felt dishonest harbouring these thoughts when he had a wonderful woman in his arms, who had supported him throughout his bad moments down in the bunker, without knowing the whole story. It was with a troubled mind and heart that he went to sleep.

* * *

The next morning, Marcus woke up at the crack of dawn, no less conflicted, but well rested. Everyone else seemed to still be fast asleep, so he rose and went outside. The camp was peaceful. He looked up the big tree, watching its leaves gently stirring in the morning breeze, taking a deep breath, letting the smells of the earth fill his nose. Gosh, he had missed the wind in the bunker. He approached the end of the small plateau upon which the camp was situated to enjoy the view over the valley underneath him. It had been a long time since he felt at peace like that.

He took a small trail on the left, to find a place to relieve himself. As he was turning a corner on his way back, he heard with a small amount of alarm the clash of batons and the grunts of people fighting. He cautiously made his way toward the noises, making sure he was silent and well hidden, and then froze in shock, his mouth hanging open, like an idiot.

Onto a small plateau, right under the main one, but hidden from sight, Zora and Abby were fighting with training sticks. The area seemed designed to train in different disciplines. He could see a couple targets, a bow, a few knives and swords. He had never seen Abby be in a physical fight in his life, and was mesmerized by the sight. They were both wearing tight fitting clothes that would not hinder their movements, going through a series of exercises together, Zora guiding Abby. He guessed that sort of answered his musings about her knowing how to use that sword she kept on her back.

“Bos! Ogud? Nodotaim! ( _Good! Ready? Again!_ )” said Zora.

They repeated the series several times until Zora was satisfied, before doing another mock duel. Zora's skills were obviously vastly superior to Abby's, which didn't prevent the older lady from giving as good as she got. While she would never make a big fighter, she was fast and nimble, and she could hold her own for a while.

“Kefa ( _careful_ )!” warned Zora, stopping the fight, “If that were a real sword, you would have lost your arm.”

“Ai get in ( _I know_ )! I just can't seem to help myself!” answered Abby with an exasperated tone.

“You need to be more careful when countering a blow, always use your weapon.” said Zora, “Nodotaim?” she smiled at Abby's nod of understanding.

“Las taim ( _last time_ ). I am not as young as you, and Eden will be awake soon.”

Marcus, mesmerized, watched on as they resumed, still unbelieving. As the fight neared its end, Abby getting her feet swiped from under her, ending flat on her back with an _oof_ , he decided to head back to the camp before they saw him and decided he would make a great target practise for spying on them. He decided to go check on Eden before going back in his tent. He felt drawn to the little girl, and again couldn't help but wonder. When Abby had handed the child to him yesterday, holding her in his arms had felt right, as if suddenly a piece he had never known was missing was there. The little angel was still deeply asleep, and he looked fondly at her. On the Ark he had never wanted children, and when they arrived on the ground, they had too many problems to solve to find the time to be together, never mind entertaining the thought of a child. But now, watching the little girl, he couldn't help but feel he had missed out on something.

With a sad sigh, he started to get back up, but the child stirred and opened her beautiful brown eyes. The colour reminded him so much of Abby's eyes that for a moment he felt breathless. He composed himself and went to pick Eden up as she moaned and groggily extended her arms toward him. _Definitely not a morning person_ , thought Marcus with a fond smile, taking her in his arms and hugging her close to him. Just as he was exiting the cave, Abby and Zora came around the path he had taken this morning, and they both seemed to freeze, their smile slipping from their mouths at the sight of him holding Eden. He worried he had made a mistake, after all Abby may have let him watch Eden yesterday, but he shouldn't have assumed it would be alright for him to take her, and he started opening his mouth to apologize, but was cut off by Abby's smile and small laugh.

“That must be the first time I see her awake this early. Don't tell me she woke you up?”

“No, no don't worry! I was awake and I checked up on her since I couldn't find you around!” said Marcus opting for a half-truth.

“That's very thoughtful of you Marcus, thank you!” said Abby with a grateful smile, making her way to him, which relieved him.

The sight of him holding Eden so tenderly had really surprised her, she hadn't been expecting it. And it made her feel guilty about not telling him yet that Eden was his daughter, when he was obviously fond of the child. It strengthened her resolve to tell him, but she needed to have a moment alone to tell him in private, a luxury they had yet to have.

“Kom op raun ai honibi ( _come with me honey_ ), let's get you cleaned up before breakfast!” said Abby to the half asleep child while gently taking her from Marcus' arms, “I'll take her to the hot spring, we won't be long, do you need anything before we go?” she asked Marcus. He was staring again he realized. _Motherhood really suited her_ , he thought as she lovingly cradled Eden, making sure she was comfortable.

“No, no, I'm good thank you.”

Zora was climbing the tree to get supplies, and seeing that they were alone for the first time, Abby abruptly decided that it was time to tell him about Eden. Clutching the child in her arms, and using all the courage she had, she hesitantly called his name, “Marcus,” he looked expectantly at her as she paused, taking a deep breath bracing herself, “there's something I need to –“

“There you are!” interrupted Kyra's voice, “I missed you this morning!” she said teasingly, hugging Marcus to her and kissing him on the lips as if Abby weren't there.

Marcus kissed her back uneasily, then turned to Abby to hear what she was about to tell him, but she had turned around, biting her lower lip in disappointment, leaving them alone to give them some privacy. He called her anyway, apologizing with his eyes. The pain in her eyes, that she was valiantly trying to hide, broke his heart.

“Later,” she told him with a strained smile before leaving to bathe Eden.

Marcus helplessly watched her go, feeling that she had been about to tell him something important. Kyra was unapologetically tugging insistently at his shirt for a hug, and he obliged.

When Abby came back, she had composed herself, and Kyra had disappeared. Marcus was helping Zora start the fire to get some water boiling. They could take the water from the river down the valley, but as Zora explained, it was a hassle every time, so they had built a water collector system. They used the rocks surrounding them as a gutter, which led the water into a huge carved out stone. The water would get through it and be filtered by the stone itself. It was a slow process, and they still needed to boil it to make sure no bacteria survived. Today, they would use the water to make some tea and to boil eggs. He had never had egg before and was pretty excited to try them. He had been surprised – yet again – to learn that this luxury was thanks to Abby. She had saved a quail-like bird with a broken leg a while ago, and the thing just never really left. As if to say “thank you for saving my life”, it let them take her eggs. The others were slowly coming around, and joined them, happy to find berries, nuts and some smoked meat to go with their eggs and tea.

“We should get going soon if we want to make it early enough to be of any help,” Said Abby to everyone. “Jackson, I'll show you some useful plants to take with you, and that you can find around Arkadia, just in case.”

They were supposed to help some people of Skaikru and Trikru go to Arkadia to assess its habitability to start moving people back.

They cleaned everything up, and took their stuff to the Rover. “Boxkru” as Zora had christened them, did not know when, or if, they would be back. The boys were especially sad to leave, and were really thankful to Abby and Zora for inviting them in their small slice of heaven even if it was just for a day. Kyra for her part was thankful as well, but she was glad to leave, feeling that things would be easier for her in Arkadia with Marcus in the throng of his people, not so close to Abby.

* * *

1 _Mwan_ : made up word that I created. It comes from the French word “moine”. It means “monk”, but in the countryside they also were objects that were used to warm the beds with hot coals from the fire without burning the sheets. <http://www.chaufferettes.com/web/chauffe_lits/moine_G.jpg>


	3. Arkadia

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Let's go back to Arkadia for a while and get some interesting piece of news!

Arkadia was less than an hour drive from camp, and they arrived early enough. Others were already there thanks to the Humvee. Abby had taught herself, then Zora, how to drive a car, and they had brought two of the three surviving cars in Polis, knowing they would be needed. The third car had been left in Arkadia, as a precaution.

The sight of the charred remains of their former home was a sad one, and Abby and Zora gave their friends a few moments to compose themselves before approaching. There would be a lot of work to do.

Abby pointed to a couple of sections that had been relatively spared due to being well inside and could be used as sleeping quarters for those who would stay there overnight. The main problem was access to water and food. The former had been partially solved by Abby and Zora who had brought the same rainwater recovery system they had at camp. They had installed about four so far, spread out around Arkadia, and they had a fifth one that could hold twenty litres of water, but it was too big for Abby and Zora to move without help.

A few others were already milling around: Sinclair, Octavia, Indra, a guy named Viper (a Trikru man who was in charge of Agro) and a few guards. Abby showed Viper a place where she thought it would be possible to grow food. It could get good irrigation if they managed to plan and build a good system. That would be one of Sinclair's many jobs. She also gave Viper a small book Zora had helped her make: it was an herbarium, showing what specimens were safe for human consumption, and how and when to grow them. She had given a similar book to Jackson for medicinal plants. It was the work of several years, and she was rather proud of it. She had already prepared a variety of seeds ready to plant that she gave him. She had also given some to the people in Polis so they could start their cultures right away, as well as to Indra for Trikru. The tribe had been their oldest enemies, but also oldest allies since their arrival on the ground, and Abby felt she owed it to Indra to help. The normally impassible warrior had a suspicious brightness to her eyes while taking the small fabric pouches. She nodded and grasped the healer's forearm, the usual sign of respect bestowed between two clan leaders.

Abby and Zora also had the forethought to plant a few fruit trees around Arkadia and Polis. They wouldn't sustain a lot of people for a long period of time, but no one would begrudge a source of food. It also had the added advantage of attracting bees. They had managed to install two hives in hopes of gathering honey, but they hadn't been successful in collecting it without being stung so far. The hives had survived in one of the sheltered valleys, and bees, as well as other insects, had started coming back after the fourth year, when the radiation levels dramatically dropped. They had hoped to use honey not only as a food source, but as medicine as well. Abby remembered reading from an old Ark archive that honey had wonderful anti-bacterial properties

There was so much to do, they all busied themselves. Abby and Zora had already made an inventory of everything useful in the old ship that they had pinned in each room were the stuff was, plus a general inventory listing everything and where it was. It saved them, and especially a very grateful and relieved Sinclair, a lot of work.

In the few days that followed, Abby, Jackson, Kyra and Zora first prepared the sleeping quarters for everyone. Then Abby and Jackson cleaned and prepared the new med-bay while Zora drove Indra and the men to the twenty litre rock that would filter water, so they could load it in the Humvee. It was a tight squeeze on the way back but they made it work. Meanwhile Sinclair worked on getting some power back with the help of solar panels in hopes of getting their fridges running again, and Viper, with the help of Marcus and the other guards, got started on the farm.

Octavia and Zora, being almost the same age, struck a tentative, weird sort of friendship, consisting of a lot of fighting with swords, under Abby and Indra's indulgent (and in Abby's case sometimes worried) smiles. When they didn't train against each other, they trained Eden. Marcus had been concerned at first, seeing the little girl with a sword, but Abby was watching with a hawk's eye, and Zora wouldn't let anything happen to her strisis ( _little sister_ ).

Indra, with the help of Abby and Zora, went to hunt for food everyday. They also gathered fruits and nuts. Each fruit core was preciously kept for future growing. Kyra smoked the meat they didn't eat right away in the cabin that had been built for this purpose. Abby, with Sinclair's help, found a way to dehydrate food, which helped preserve some fruits longer. They were trying to build up their reserves to be able to progressively welcome more of their people home. It was a slow process. At the moment they could only sustain up to fifteen to twenty people, but hopefully it would work like gears: the more their numbers grew, the more hands they had to work around, and the more their resources would grow with them.

* * *

Indra was watching Kyra's actions with growing concern. The woman acted nice with everyone, and eagerly helped in the collective effort but Indra had caught her staring at Abby like a panther would a wounded rabbit on more occasions than one. She was clearly jealous of the healer's accomplishments and of Kane's justified admiration and attachment to her. Abby had been very careful in not intruding on the couple's life, despite the fact that her two old friends obviously still loved each other very much.

That and the warrior had never really trusted the Boudalankru ( _rockline_ ) woman. Their clan was a treacherous one, and the woman's attachment to Kane had seemed too quick, too opportune. Marcus was the representative of Skaikru in the bunker, and it was obvious that he was still considered as the Chancellor by his people. He was well liked by the grounders, and he was a man of power. When asking around, she had discovered that Kyra came from an imminent and ambitious family, who could have eventually taken over as Wocha _(chieftain_ ) _,_ but Praimfaya had put a violent and abrupt end to these dreams. Indra could only formulate speculations, never able to prove anything and therefore had kept silent. But now she could not shake a feeling of unease toward the whole situation. She vowed to herself that she would keep an eye on her and keep her friends safe.

* * *

They all worked hard during the day, with Abby going from one point to another depending on the demands each station might have. She and Zora had scouted the place to map out the best ways to make it usable again, and had started some basic work. That meant that every time someone had a question, they would ask them. They were all astounded to see the amount of time the women's work had saved them. Abby was like the mother of the group, making sure nobody lacked anything.

Their favourite time of the day was dinner time. It was the only moment they could all sit together and relax. Sometimes Eden would ask Abby to read her a story. Marcus recognized the book as the one Gina had gifted Bellamy a long time ago, about Greek mythology. They would all listen to Abby's soothing voice while she read. Abby would sit crossed legged by the fire with her back to a log and the little girl between her legs leaning on her chest, in the safe embrace of her arms. Meanwhile, Zora snuggled to Abby's left side, looping her right arm around Abby's left, her head on Abby's shoulder to read along. Eden would sometimes point words she recognized in the book and Abby would smile and kiss the top of her head to congratulate her. The warmth and peace of such moments was something no one had ever really felt, and they wouldn't trade anything for it.

* * *

They'd been in Arkadia for a couple of days, and Marcus could not understand what was up with Kyra. He had tried to make her feel included in the Skaikru group and she seemed to integrate well. She always worked with someone, conversation flowing, and seemed to get along with everyone. Everyone except for the three Plankru _(women kru_ ) (according to Zora, Athos had called them that because they were the only kru of survivors only composed of women) _._ He had seen her rudely roll her eyes and mutter under her breath when Abby was explaining something to Sinclair, she had meanly laughed at Zora after she took a bad fall when training with Octavia and sneered at Eden when she mispronounced Jackson's name.

Trying to understand, Marcus tried to gently broach the subject with her. The answer was not what he expected.

“Can't you see she has you all wrapped around her little finger? She wants to take back her position as Chancellor! The position that should rightfully be yours!”

Marcus stared at her, completely taken aback. “I think you're mistaken. She's just trying to help, it's who she is. We have been through a lot. She has never been interested in power. And neither am I. I don't want to be Chancellor.”

“Don't be ridiculous love, of course you'll be Chancellor, you were meant to lead your people,” she answered soothingly. “Besides, once you hold the election, the people will vote for you.” She smiled adoringly, her hand finding its was in his beard, the fight already forgotten. She kissed him and led him to bed. She was good at using her body to make men forget the bad things in their lives.

However, a few hours later, while Kyra slept peacefully, Marcus stayed wide awake, his mind torturing him. Why would she think such things of Abby? Sure, she had changed a lot, but then so had he. Had Kyra seen something? He decided to get some fresh air to clear his head, and slipped out of bed without making a noise.

When he got outside, he saw he wasn't the only one not sleeping. Abby was sitting on a log next to the ambers of the fire, her arms around her knees. She was stargazing, seemingly lost in thoughts. He hovered, hesitating for a few seconds before silently joining her. They stayed like that, side by side, for a while, enjoying the peace, the comfortable silence covering them like a warm blanket, before Marcus finally decided to talk.

“I'm sorry,” came softly from his mouth. Abby lowered her gaze to him and sent him a quizzical look, frowning questioningly. “I should never have let you leave back then; I should have fought for you to stay inside the bunker with us,” he said his voice cracking slightly at the end of the sentence, tears welling in his eyes.

“Oh Marcus,” whispered Abby sadly, fully turning toward him, to look in his eyes. She took his hands in her own, tears welling in her eyes as well. “There is nothing to forgive. I can't thank you enough for respecting my wish to be on the other side of that door.” His hands clenched around hers, tears flowing freely now. “I wasn't in a good place in my mind after what I'd done on Becca's island, and honestly, I don't think I could have managed living in the bunker back then. Please don't feel guilty about that!” They were both sobbing now, starring in each other's eyes. Abby gently used her thumbs to swipe away his tears before taking Marcus in her arms. They clung, holding each other close, seeking and giving comfort in equal measure. Marcus' guilt didn't disappear, but it lessened, the weight in his chest lifting slightly. He had needed to hear those words from her.

“If anything,” she added, backing away a little, when their sobs abated, “I should be the one begging you for forgiveness.” She fully disengaged from his embrace, hanging her head and drying her tears with her sleeves. Marcus frowned, not believing his ears; Abby had nothing to feel guilty about, she had been doing everything in her power to save everyone! He opened his mouth to tell her as much, but she beat him to it, “I know – I know how painful it is to lose the one you love, and I can't say how sorry I am to have made you go through that.” She sobbed, hugging herself in pain, not being able to look at him, “I am glad you found love again.” She was biting her lips, crying hard now, and Marcus could not bear to see her in pain, so he took her in his arms again, rocking her slightly, murmuring that he never, ever blamed her for the choice she made.

They comforted each other for a while, before Abby disentangled herself again with a small sniff.

“There is something I need to tell you,” she said in a low voice, looking at him in the eyes. “I meant to tell you earlier but I needed to tell you in private, and well –” she stopped to take a shaky breath, taking Marcus' hand in her own. She hung her head, taking another deep breath while looking at their joined hands, bracing herself before looking back at him. As she opened her mouth to talk, she was – once again – interrupted before she could get the words out.

“Niron ( _loved one/lover_ )?” It was Kyra. Abby tensed, her hands momentarily clenching around Marcus', mentally cursing. She squeezed her eyes shut hanging her head to hide her anguish and bit her lower lip in dejection. She could not prevent a few more tears from escaping. Marcus, seeing her distress told Kyra he would be right there, but she did not take the hint, and instead of waiting approached the two. “Am I interrupting?” She innocently asked in a sweet voice.

Abby's expression now closed off drew a shaky smile and said: “Not at all, just taking some fresh air, is all. I'll go to sleep now. Goodnight.” She stood from her position without looking at any of them and Marcus watched helplessly as she escaped inside, hugging herself, her shoulders slightly shaking from silent, painful sobs. He almost went after her, but Kyra cut in, “What was that?”

“What do you mean?” asked Marcus tiredly, massaging his temples.

Kyra sighed while rolling her eyes. “Why were you with _her_ out here in the middle of the night?” She grit out.

“I couldn't sleep so I went outside so as not to wake you. Abby was already there, and we had a long overdue conversation.”

“Is that so? Hashta ( _What about_ )?”

“That is none of your business!” answered Marcus a bit more harshly than intended. He was annoyed at being interrupted _again_ when Abby had something important she obviously wanted to tell him, and that she could only tell in private. He sighed, “Look, I'm sorry, that was uncalled for. I'm tired, let's just go to bed, okay?”

Kyra silently nodded, grinding her teeth, and they made their way back to their room. Marcus vowed to himself he would make time for Abby to share what she wanted to tell him so badly. They went to bed, this time Kyra being the one having trouble finding sleep. She loved Marcus, but the reason she had been attracted to him originally was power. He was Skaikru Heda, and she was supposed to be the next Wocha from her clan. They were meant to be together, and lead. But she had not taken into account the reappearance of Abby Griffin. This woman was a threat, and at first Kyra had thought she wouldn't be a problem. After all, how dangerous could a mere _fisa_ be? She had tried to plant the seed of doubt into Marcus' mind, but he obviously could not find fault in this woman. Now the more Kyra thought about it, the more she realized that something else must be done. Something _more._ She had been very careful, taking measures to not fall pregnant in the bunker, she hadn’t loved Marcus back then, but that changed, and she figured it was high time to get the family she always wanted.

* * *

After a couple more days in Arkadia, the group, meaning the seven original ones, plus Indra, Octavia and Sinclair, made their way back to Plankru camp, or “Plankadia”, as Zora and Octavia had decided to name it now. Viper and the others were going back to Polis, and they would join them the next day. Sinclair wanted to see the system the girls used to treat water through phototherapy. The water from the rain was sometimes too contaminated to use, and they didn't want to waste the filtered water from the rock, or go all the way to the river to clean their clothes or materials every time, so they used something else.

It was a tank, on top of the treehouse, made of scrap metal found in Arkadia. They had used a very sticky kind of sap to hermetically bind the pieces together. The sap needed to be changed regularly. The rain water would be collected in the tank, and when it was sunny, Abby used a huge piece of amplifying glass to reflect sunlight onto the water. The beam could start a forest fire if directed toward leaves, and was not enough to drink, but it would destroy enough of the bacteria in the water to use it for day-to-day cleaning.

Zora was in the treehouse gathering supplies when an unexpected noise came from the radio. It sounded like something crunching. When she didn't hear it again, she frowned, thinking it might have been a branch rattling against the wood. But then a voice spoke.

“Hello? Is someone there?” A woman's voice asked.

Zora dropped what she was holding and stupidly blinked at the thing, her mouth hanging open for a couple seconds before managing to compose herself and operate the machine, like Abby showed her.

“Hello, this is Zora kom Trishana Kru on Earth, who is this?”

“Hello Zora, nice to meet you, my name is Clarke –”

“Oh my God, Clarke? As in Clarke Griffin?” Cut Zora agitated.

“Er yes, how do you know me?” asked Clarke.

“We have acquaintances in common. Do you have a minute? There's someone here who'd like to talk to you!” Said Zora over-excitedly, barely waiting for Clarke's assent before barreling out of the house, smashing the door open.

“Abby! Yu gaf in miya nau ( _You need to come now_ )!” Yelled Zora urgently to Abby, who was currently talking with the others around the fire-pit. Abby looked at her, startled, but excused herself with a smile. She made her way to the tree and looked at Zora with a small inquiring frown before coming up.

“Chit yu gaf ( _what is it_ )?” Asked Abby, worried.

“Yu na ai op ( _you'll see_ )!” Said Zora, with a smile breaking her whole face in two. She took Abby's hand, pulling her inside, and Abby's eyes widened when she saw her go to the radio, putting the pieces together, “I'm back and listening!” Said Zora turning with a blinding smile to watch Abby's reaction.

“Who wanted to talk to me?” It answered, and Abby felt her legs giving out under her, her hands coming to cover her mouth with a gasp, tears of joy running from her eyes. Zora, who was crying as well, handed her the radio.

“Clarke?” Asked Abby, in a broken voice.

“– MUM?!” It answered after a shocked pause.

“Yes honey, it's me!”

The rest got lost in the tears and cries of happiness of not only Clarke but the other kids in space as well. They had all believed Abby to be dead when she helped them launch the rocket into space. The kids who had lived in the Ark had taken it especially hard, having all been under the gentle woman's care at some point. But Raven and Murphy and taken it the worst, almost as bad as Clarke had been at the time. The three had been inconsolable.

“I'll go get Octavia,” whispered Zora to Abby, putting her hand on her shoulder, but before she could move the older lady had taken her in her arms, lovingly embracing her.

“I can't wait for you to meet your older sister,” she said to her sobbing, lightly kissing her on the forehead. Zora fell into her arms and cried even more at hearing that. She had secretly feared that Abby would forget about her once Clarke was back, but with these words she had been reminded that she would never be alone again, she really had a _family_.

“ _Thank you,_ ” said Zora, fiercely hugging Abby. She then turned around to get Octavia just as Bellamy was asking about his sister.

“Zora's getting her,” Abby told him, throwing a grateful smile at the young girl.

* * *

Zora took a deep breath while getting out of the treehouse, a few tears still flowing from her eyes but she could not stop smiling at seeing the joy on Abby's face at hearing Clarke's voice for the first time in over five years.

She made her way down and got to the others.

“Is everything alright?” Asked Marcus, in concern at seeing her red eyes.

“More than,” she answered in a hoarse voice. “Octavia, you should go up there,” she told the other girl.

“Chomouda ( _why_ )?” She asked suspiciously.

“Trust me, you _want_ to go in that treehouse right now,” said Zora, looking right into her eyes.

Octavia did not see what could be up there that she might possibly want, but something in the other girl's direct gaze made her get up anyway. Zora nodded encouragingly with a small smile, ignoring the curious looks from the others.

“Chit's gon daun Zora ( _what's happening_ )?” Asked Eden innocently, saving the adults from showing their curiosity so openly themselves, although they all turned toward her to hear the answer.

“You'll see soon, Squirt,” said Zora while taking the little girl in her arms.

Meanwhile, Octavia had gotten to the top of the ladder, and an emotional “Oh my God” could be heard from her when she opened the door. They could see her bracing herself on the door frame, a hand on her heart. Zora smiled as her eyes welled again and buried her head into Eden's hair, letting her gentle smell soothe her rampant feelings.

Abby came out a few minutes later and a cried a few more happy tears, not noticing that the other were becoming more and more alarmed at all the emotions running around. She came down and took her girls in her arms again, sobbing. Marcus was starting to get more than a little worried at this point, for Abby _never_ cried in public. Even after Jake's floating, and the subsequent isolation of Clarke, she had grieved in privacy. No one had ever seen her cry. So, it was with a bit of trepidation that Marcus waited for her to be ready to tell them what the hell was going on. But when she raised her head, she sent him a blinding smile and he was confused. She then turned toward a concerned Sinclair and calmly told him he too should get his ass up in the treehouse. He looked back at her clearly thinking she had lost it and gone crazy but he went anyway, feeling confused as hell.

As he watched the man climb the ladder, realization came in Marcus' eyes. There was only one thing Abby, Octavia and Sinclair had in common that could prompt such emotions. Family. Spacekru. The kids. They _had_ made it!

Marcus' eyes widened and he turned his head toward Abby, looking at her in askance. She smiled at him and nodded. He felt his own smile grow in response and got up to take her in his arms, “That's amazing, Abby!”

She gladly returned the embrace, telling him: “They'll want to hear from you as well.”

He held her for a bit longer, wanting to share her joy, before letting go.

It was an emotional afternoon for all. At some point they somehow all managed to squeeze in the small treehouse, laughing with the kids over the radio.

There were many hugs exchanged, everyone wanting to share the joy of knowing the kids, who definitely were not kids anymore, were doing well.

* * *

Later that evening, Marcus and Kyra were preparing for bed. Kyra had been silent all day long, to the general indifference, feeling ignored since the news of Spacekru came. She simply did not understand what the big deal was, everyone called them “the kids” but they weren't even kids anymore. And Marcus had hugged Abby for what she felt was longer than necessary, and had shared smiles with her the whole afternoon. Kyra was positively fuming by the end of the day.

Marcus, still high from hearing the delinquents' voices, didn't really notice his girlfriend's mood. He took her in his arms, but instead of the happy cuddle he expected, Kyra tensed and sent him a disgruntled look.

“Something wrong?” Asked Marcus, surprised, pushing his head back to look at her.

“You have to ask?” Fired back Kyra hotly. Marcus frowned and sent her a questioning look, to which Kyra sighed exasperatedly, disentangling from his arms, and stomped to the bed (the same one they had used a few days before), sitting to remove her shoes.

“Did I do something?” Said Marcus, slowly turning around to watch her, prompting another sigh. He couldn't for the life of him understand what was happening now.

Kyra then launched into a long tirade, explaining everything on her heart at this moment. How she felt ignored the whole time Marcus was with the people from Skaikru, and especially Abby, whom, like she told him a few days before, she didn't trust, how she didn't understand what the deal was with the “kids”, everything. Marcus sat speechless through it all. He had talked to her many times about the kids in the year they had been together, how important they were to Skaikru and to him. How they would always be kids for Skaikru. He thought she would be happy for him and honestly hadn't meant for her to feel that way, and told her so.

“I don't mind you spending time with your friends,” said Kyra sheepishly hanging her head, knowing that she was overreacting. “I'd simply like to be more included,” she added, bringing her hand to cup Marcus' cheek tenderly.

“I'll be more mindful, I promise,” he answered with a soft smile. She kissed him slowly, bringing his body to hers, and they slid under the covers.

* * *

The next day, Abby woke up even earlier than usual, her spirit high from hearing Clarke' voice again, and knowing for sure that she was fine. Sinclair was up as well, and she sent a knowing smile in his direction. The man had never had children, and he loved Raven like his own. He hadn't stopped smiling ever since talking to her. The kids had not been able to make it down yet, due to a problem with hydrozene. Thankfully Raven, incontestable genius that she was, had found a way around that. The explanation had gone way over Abby's head but had seemed to make sense to Sinclair, which reassured her. Something to do with using solar energy, redirecting the power source, and only using whatever hydrozene they had left to safely land. More or less. And they would need to make sure they had a working radio to guide them to a safe landing spot.

They would still need a couple more weeks, probably closer to three before attempting to make it down, but Raven was sure it would work, and Abby couldn't wait.

They would stay in contact. Unfortunately, the radio was not portable and had to stay in the treehouse where the solar panel kept it powered up. Sinclair had been surprised to see the installation, and had asked Abby about it. Abby only told him that you didn't stay married with the chief of engineering for twenty years, especially when he would constantly bring some work home, without picking up a thing or two. Sinclair had only laughed, recognizing the truth in her words, saying that because of him his wife used to repair things in their unit after just a couple of months of marriage.

The others slowly them joined one by one. Marcus sat at the end of the table to make sure Kyra wouldn't be left alone. Mindful of the discussion they had the previous day, he was careful to include her in every conversation he had.

Meanwhile, Eden, surprising everyone, unceremoniously plopped herself on Indra's knees to the warrior's utter bafflement. The little girl had taken a liking to her mother's rather stiff friend, and while grown men more often than not were afraid of the imposing woman, the child didn't seem fazed at all. To their general amusement (although no one dared to openly show it for obvious reasons), Indra didn't seem to quite know what to do with herself for a few seconds, while Eden unconcernedly babbled to her in her half English, half Trigedasleng speech. Abby was barely managing to contain her amused smile, her mouth twitching dangerously, when the other woman helplessly looked at her in a silent cry for help. The mother simply gave her a warm smile, eyes twinkling with mirth, as if having her child sit in Indra’s laps was a normal, everyday occurrence, before unconcernedly going back to her conversation with Sinclair, ignoring the warrior's widening look of alarm. Indra sent a helpless look around, trying to catch someone's eyes. Everyone carefully adverted their eyes, acting as if nothing unusual was happening while holding back smiles with difficulty (they did like having their body parts still attached), letting the poor woman deal with it. It was not often that the warrior was caught in a situation where she didn’t know what to do, and it was a definitely entertaining sight to see.

They all finished breakfast, Indra having finally managed to relax despite the child staying with her the whole time. They all helped cleaning up before heading to Polis. They had a long day of work ahead.


End file.
